Rockets getting Kevin Martin? Me likes, and you will, too

You never know which trades were actually “in the works.” Just because a team made a proposal doesn’t mean the other was at all interested.

Throw in some posturing to make deals sweeter and some outright lying to try to make other deals happen, and the trade deadline is a mishmash of mess.

But I didn’t like the trades being reported involving the Rockets and Wizards or the Rockets and Sixers.

The one involving the Knicks and Bulls, trades in which the Rockets would bring back valuable draft picks for Tracy McGrady, were much more to my liking.

This move with Sacramento? Hmmm.

I love me some Kevin Martin.

You might recall my lukewarmthness to the Trevor Ariza signing, and turns out he has been just about the player I thought he would be. Not a problem. He just has to learn how to be solid every night, and I think he will.

He isn’t special, but he can play for me.

Martin, on the other hand, is sweet.

We’re talking a big-time scorer and a player that has special skills.

He scores from everywhere – outside, inside and he takes it to the rack to draw fouls. If you’re not familiar with this guy’s game, get ready. You’re going to love him.

Martin has a career 3-point percentage that is about the same as Shane Battier (.386-.384), but he took more free throws in the previous three seasons (1,675) than Battier has in his 8 ½-year (1,390).

Now, Martin has had some injuries the past few seasons, which has to make you Rockets fans a bit queasy. He’s replacing an injury-prone player, but at least he is younger. He turned 27 a couple weeks ago.

In the last four-plus seasons – since he became a starter in the 2005-06 season – Martin has played in 285 games, which means he has missed 97 games.

That’s OK, he has played 60 more games than McGrady, and 48 more than Yao Ming.

98 Responses

Martin’s great in all, but did you look at who we’re trading besides t-mac? Carl Landry? Talk about instantly losing any sort of low post presence that we had previously.

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Carl is a nice player, but I think he is pretty much maxed out, and not a very good defensive player. Yes, there is a hole in the middle, but there was a hole outside too. This fixes the perimeter, speeds up the team, and gives the Rockets a legit scorer to play off Yao when he returns.

I just got off the phone with my good friend that works up at sr610 who does a lot of player interviews and such, and we both agreed that though carl has probably maxed out and won’t ever be super star, we’d have probably rather seen scola go.

It’ll be interesting to see if Kevin Martin can help get us out of our usual scoring droughts we hit at the beginnings or ends of the second half. Who knows maybe Sergio Rodriguez could even add a spark now and then.

I’m also wondering how the Knicks are going to get involved in all this because I know they still want a part of this deal, any ideas? will we get anyone from them?

This guy just finished the last two years averaging over 24 and 23 points a game. Thats pretty big time move by Morey. I gotta give him his props for a shrewd move Landry was a great guy but playing at almost 17 points a night means we couldnt have resigned him on the team with the money he woud have wanted anyways.

Good Lord Jerome-sleep man! This trade has me less enthused because of the lack of draft picks. I like spare draft picks but since I assume the levels of Lottery Protection were not to the Knicks liking we went in a different direction. I like K Martin as a solid scorer and he should perform well here in his second stint under Adelman. My curiousity is how do we reintegrate Yao and wouldn’t Ariza also do better by not being the primary option when Yao returns next year? I just hope this does enough to push the Rockets into the 8th spot.

Do you think trade talks and moves among other teams and the rockets are over? Seems like we got a lot of baggage players beside Kevin we have to worry about. As far as Kevin, I’m eager to see what he can do. Sad to see Carl go though.

I hate to lose Carl because he’s a good player and seems like a good teammate. That being said, I’m really excited to see us getting Martin and it’ll be nice to see Scola and Hayes get more minutes. I’m not saying that those guys are All-Stars, but you can see how talented Scola is and Hayes’s defense really does earn his spot on the floor.

-I’ll really miss Landry and will have to watch some Kings games and cheer him on!! Rockets will really miss his low post scoring this year, but next year he won’t have as many opportunities with Yao back, and Yao plays much better with Scola. What they need now is an athletic, long PF.

-As much as I absolutely hate seeing Landry go, he needed to be cut loose for his own benefit. Especially with Yao back next year, the only way he was going to continue to blossom is on another team.

Landry was just about our best all-around player. We’re stuck with Ariza. Martin’s injury issues leave me a lot queasy. Barely heard of the guy until the last two weeks, and he plays the same position as Ariza, so now what?

This is a solid trade. Yes we gave up landry, but like chris mentioned at the level he is playing at now he would want somewhere around 7-10 mil per which is basically a mid level deal,with that we would be able to resign scola and/or lowry. 2nd we received kenny thomas’s 9 mil expiring contract and 2 other nothing players that have 1 more yr left on their deals that total 5 mil combined. The deal gives us kmart for relatively cheap 10-13 mil for the next 4 yrs, and 14 mil in expiring contracts for landry. Not too bad of a trade, which will allow us to resign lowry and scola and possibly bring in another mid level exception guy in the offseason. But wait we are still waiting to hear from the knicks as a possible 3rd team. Hopefully they send kenny thomas’s 9 mil expiring contract and maybe chuckwagon’s 3.5 mil expiring contract for david lee. Lee would give us 15-17 pts per and would fill the gap left by landry. now thats a steal of a deal and the knicks are also winners b/c they just cleared another 12 mil off their books for this summer’s free agent fest that they cant wait for.

How long is Martin locked up in a contract? I think he is a great player, but I have to admit the injuries do concern me. We know what type of player we are getting in Martin, but if injuries become a problem with him here, I’d like the Rockets to be able to get rid of him when the time comes. I hope he works out well, but if he starts getting injured as often as Tmac then we didn’t make an upgrade. How many years does he have on his contract?

Let me ask you this Solomon, why is kevin martin such a big time scorer if he barely gets past the 20 pt mark for his avg. I dont see this guy being very versatile either, and he doesnt help the people around him either. kevin martin is OK but dont get it twisted he aint no tracy mcgrady i know that

I can’t believe you were for either that Knicks or Bulls deal, they were both trash. You would be getting project players, garbage contracts, and losing your flexibility for the biggest summer in years. That would’ve basically resigned the team to suck for the next 3-5 seasons with no back court scoring and no help in sight do to the lack of cap or available free agents. The draft picks would be worthless because if the Knicks get the cap space they are going to bring in enough talent to at least be respectable. It may not be Bron, Bosh, or Wade, but with the number of players out there and the amount of cap room they have they will build a team that can at least make the playoffs.

I’m okay on this deal. I’m not overjoyed, but it is a move that could go either way. Martin could blossom into a star with the Rockets, playing on a good team with a good coach and in a good organization. He has never really starred on a good team before. Or he could be the injury prone player that he has been the past few season and it could be Tracy and Yao all over again. One returns to the line up and the other gets hurt. The worst part is that Martin isn’t as good as Tracy was at his best and that wasn’t enough to get the Rockets over the hump. But the Rockets supporting cast is better than it was at any point during the Yao/Tracy era.

Giving up Landry really hurts though. I think his career will be hurt by his time in Sac, because I don’t think his game will expand much with Thompson there in the paint. They are going to turn him into a mid-range jump shooter for the next year and a half. Landry means more to the Rockets than he will to the Kings. Having that energy next to Yao and that bit of toughness is a big thing. I’d have much rather seen Scola’s name in this trade than Landry’s.

———————————————————On the Knicks deal, you know how I stand on garbage contracts. I’m very much against them. l thought I saw two first-round draft picks in the mix. That’s two lottery picks. … I love Carl, but he isn’t nearly as good as Rockets’ fans think he is. He will never be an All-Star, and part of the reason he has been what he has this season is the Rockets have no options.

This is Moreys worst move so far.Why would you trade a injury prone player for another one?A injury prone player that is shooting 40% from the field.Not to mention giving up our bench scoring and our 4th qt guy.Scola does’nt finish games,Landry does.Our best aspect of the team just took a big hit.The bench production will drop off big time and we will still be depending on a jump shooter to close games.I thought Morey did’nt want to trade any core guys.Our 2nd leading scorer is’nt a core piece?Bad move.Get used to Yao and Martin missing many games together,just like Mcgrady did.

The level of ignorance of you posters is laughable. Now who will rebound? Landry doesn’t rebound. Landry our best all around player? You do realize all around means more than scoring, which he wasn’t doing consistently since teams decided to throw him an occassional double? Landry seems like a good kid who has made strides, but we need a consistent scorer and shooter for this and next season. Be thankful we got someone this good for so little.

I love the trade assuming KevMart’s health. The guy is solid and will win us a few games. The Rockets were depending on Yao anyway, so why not go all in? We are lethal with Yao back, and good even if he’s not 100%. I also think this is a set up deal for Thomas or Hill.

On the rockets side…we get rid of McGrady(who is at 29-30..and probably got maybe 2-3 yrs left in him) and his $22m contract, and then we lose landry and dorsey as well. I didnt really want to lose landry and his bench presence, but oh well.

Martin is 2 yrs younger and half the price of mcgrady(idc if it’s a 4 year deal…at $10 mil a year? hell yeah…) and can score: the fact that his percentage is lower is irrelevant due to fewer games. Thomas gives us an expiring contract, and two bench players who COULD contribute.

This could help us sign our guys, and maybe get someone…idk who though. Of course, i may hear another trade in 3 hours for more guys…which could change this entire post.

On the kings side….who cares? they got mcgrady.

and ESPN said this trade takes down our projected wins by 6 and ups the kings by 7…ESPN is stupid.

I don’t think the Knicks will part ways with their best player (Lee), specially because he would be complementary to the stars they’re looking forward to land next summer (Wade, LeBron). If this Jordan Hill is really a good prospect maybe Rockets can send expiring contracts (Kenny Thomas, Brian Cook and whatever other garbage they have left) to NY and bring the kid. I think even without McGrady’s 23M expiring contract they can still pack a good amount of expiring contracts to make the Knicks trade Hill.

See this is exactly the problem with us fans of Houston teams. We have too many people (writers and fans) who are willing to accept mediocrity. People act as if Darryl Morey is some great GM yet for all the money he has spent we have only been out of the first round ONCE. Last I checked almost half the teams in the NBA make the playoffs so that ain’t saying much.

The only “contention” this brings us near is another early playoff exit? Martin scored 25 on one of the worst teams in the league, we’ll see what he does when he gets here. not to mention this guy is injury prone too. We should have cleared out cap space and tried to sign a free agent this summer.

i agree about landry being “maxed out,” he gets exposed by physical pfs. i can see him sitting in sactown hating him some paul millsap for the exposure that packed his bags.

with martin we get a pure shooter with better percentages than joe johnson. a younger one for half the price too! great value.

now we get under the cap with thomas’s expiring and i think morey has one more trade this year in him. im thinking battier/rodriguez for a more than decent 4 would have everybody back on the bandwagon.

we just cant keep paying battier and ariza 7 mil a piece with martin locking down the 2.

Chris-Landry was under contract through next year(3 mill I think)and was the only post threat we had.I for one think this trade sucks.I don’t care that Martin averages 20 ppg.He has had injury problems the last several years.Have’nt the Rockets learned anything about injury prone players?

Losing Landry is a real bummer but getting Martin is huge. Kevin is a star player who can carry an offense. He’s not the passer McGrady was but he can put up points. I wonder how well he mesh with Brooks and Lowry? He wasn’t meshing too well with Tyreke Evans. Does Ariza become a backup now? If so, how will that go down with him?

Sergio is a good player but what are we going to do with another point guard? Could yet another trade be in the works?

The Knicks weren’t offering anyone who could come in and start for the Rockets. They just wanted to give the Rockets their deadwood.

I worried about the rumored Chicago trade for fear that Tyrus Thomas will ultimately be a bust. Yes he has enormous athleticism and raw talent but what does he have between his ears?

Me no likes. I think Martin is a good scorer on a bad team and will be a non-scorer on a good team. Gave up way to much for him. It would have been better to wait to see what you could get on free-agency in the off-season. At least now I know that the Rockets won’t make the payoffs this year. Bad move!

The trade seems okay. Yes we lost Landry, but need more height and length at the PF. We get that with Armstrong, who is 6’11” and can run the court well.

Biggest concern is Martin’s contract with three years at $46 million. Not great value for a star, not superstar at over $15 million per season. Ties up most of the cap space, so we are assuming the combination of Kevin Martin and a healthy Yao Ming will lead us into next season. With Ariza, Scola, and Brooks the other starters.

Other moves will need to be made to catch up with the powers in the West because on paper we still are not challenging L.A., Denver or Dallas.

I don’t get it, we traded a injury prone former scoring champion for an injury prone wannabe scoring champion and now we are in the same boat with two front line injury prone players. Other than lowering your budget it does not bring us closer to the Lakers in the forseeable future. Suckramento made this trade because they have given up on Kmart (injurys) and can free up Macs contract for next year. I would have rather done the Knicks or the Bull deal getting Thomas and draft picks and not given up Landry. I know Keven Martin is great when he is healthy but he has missed 1 out of three games since he has been in the league. Bad deal

It is interesting you mention Landry as maxing out his potential. I never really thought about it but it makes lots of sense.

It is ironic he is getting traded for Kenny Thomas because I believe the Rockets traded Kenny pretty much after they felt he maxed out his potential in his first tour in Houston. Thomas had similar scoring attributes early in his career but was not as explosive around the rim.

Do you think Landry’s knee was a concern for the future?

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There is no indication that Landry’s knee is an issue going forward. His being invisible on defense on the other hand …

According to a usually highly reliable Houston TV reporter, the deal may not be done (Thank God!), with McGrady and Dorsey moved to the Knicks, and the Rockets getting forward Jordan Hill from New York. This actually makes sense for all teams, with the Kings getting Landry to team with Tyreke Evans, the Knicks getting T-Mac (and his expiring contract so they can go after LeBron) and Dorsey to replace Hill. The Rockets get Martin (scoring threat) and Hill (young big man)…Now that, “me likes!”

He has improved his numbers every year in the league. He is getting better defensively.. which is evident from his higher minutes. He is hitting from outside more consistently. This is a big mistake. He went from pretty much a no body, to being second in the league in 4th quarter scoring. Come on! he’s ahead of guys like melo, wade, dirk.. and its his 3rd year in the league.

Talk about bad defensively.. take a look at our “star” player we get back in this deal. But of course that doesnt matter cuz we have battier and ariza? No it matters. He’s weak, too small.. and just like Mcgrady he is injury prone and, i don’t know the Martin you’ve watched, can’t take it to the basket and settles for j’s way to much.

So he’s younger than TMac.. that just means we have that much longer to watch him get hurt. Rockets: Oh he’s young he’ll stay healthy next year, and next year, and next year. The next thing you know Yao’s retired and the Rockets are still no closer to a championship.

Kings def. got the better end of this deal. Talk about an exciting young team to watch.

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By itself, fourth-quarter scoring is one of the most overrated stats on the books.

You may say outside scoring, but its def. down low. Even with Yao. Yet we trade away THE ONLY player we have down low who can finish ABOVE the rim. Im sick and tired of seeing our post players get their shots blocked and not going up strong to the basket. Do you realize Chuck Hayes leads the league in attempted shots blocked? its something like 60% of his shots get blocked. Thats insane.

Morey gets a bad grade on this trade for me. But I do have a feeling he’ll make it worth it sometime in the future. As I hold my breath: In Morey We Trust.

Martin is being “reunited” with Adelman. What has the coach said so far about how he plans to fit him into the rotation? Has he said anything constructive about the other players we acquired, or are they still on the trading block?

What’s kinda scaring me is that Adelman seems to have fond memories of players and seems to worm his way into management’s head on getting some of those guys back. Artest, KMart. I’m sure I’m missing someone, but heck, we almost got Miller!

JS – On the Knicks deal.. l thought I saw two first-round draft picks in the mix. That’s two lottery picks. … I love Carl, but he isn’t nearly as good as Rockets’ fans think he is. He will never be an All-Star…

I think people have gotten so use to the Knicks stinking that they just assume that it will continue that way until the end of time. That isn’t the case. Since they fired Thomas everything that they have done up until this point is specifically for the purposes of this summer. This is the sink or swim summer for them. They will either look brilliant or some people can start packing their bags. They WILL do something this summer. It may not be what they or anyone else expect them to do, but they will do something to at least get them better than the Bobcats and get them not in the “big 4″ of the east, but in that next group under that. Those picks most likely won’t be lottery picks. I doubt they get Bron, but they may be able to swing Amare and Joe Johnson. In the east… That would be good enough for them to surpass the Hawks. Maybe they can swing a Bosh and Rondo, or they turn Lowry into a poor man’s (very poor) Nash in Mike’s system, and out bid the Grizz for Gay, who would probably break out under a good coach and in a run and gun game.

The point is that there are too many players that will be available and they have too much money and too much at stake to not do anything. Even if they sign a fringe all star to a contract way too big for him (Rashard Lewis), they will do something that will get them in playoff contention.

I’m not trying to overvalue Carl. He has grown into an average player at his position. By average I mean out of the 30 teams in the NBA I’d put him dead in the middle of the starting power forwards in the league. He isn’t on the level with Dirk, Duncan, Bosh, or Amare, but he could start in the league. I’d put him ahead of Scola from a skill and potential standpoint.

Kevin Martin is the same thing at another position. He is right in the middle of the wing players in the league. He isn’t on the level with Bron, Kobe, or Wade, but he is in that middle group of starting wing players. He is a notch below Pierce, Durant, and Joe Johnson. He isn’t a guy that is going to lead or carry a team. He just lost his job to a rookie. I’m not saying he is a bad player, I actually think he will emerge as an all star in the coming season “if he can stay healthy”. That’s the problem with this deal. I hate going into every season feeling as though the team’s fate is on a 50/50 pendulum just waiting to crash and burn because of an injury. Most teams are more like 90/10. The Lakers don’t go into every season feeling like Kobe will have a 50/50 chance of missing most of the season due to injury. The Cavs, Mavs, Suns, or any other team that has been considered contenders over the past half decade hasn’t had this injury issue hanging over their head at the start of every season. I’m tired of feeling that way, but it seems like the drama will continue…

As for Landry being invisible on defense…..you mean, like Yao….?!?!?! Now we have a bunch of bigs who can’t jump, led by Yao, who can’t jump DOWN! Hope Morey has something else up his sleeve…..he’s been correct so far!

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Don’t let your dislike of Yao cloud your judgment. He is a huge presence defensively, even without the highlight-reel blocked shots. The Rockets are not the same team down low without him. If I thought Adelman was ever going to let him play, I’d say Joey Dorsey is almost as big a loss as Landry.

Kevin Martin, scoring 19.8 PPG, is a gunner on a bad team, making just two of every five shots he takes.

Carl Landry, scoring 16.1 PPG, makes more than half his shots. Should have told Landry to shot three more times a game and got the same results.

To me it appears we gave away our best chance to actually improve the team either by trade or payroll in the free agent market at season’s end, and in return got the Rockets off the NBA luxury tax. This move frees up about half the money T-Mac’s expiring contract would have given the team. Oh well, it saves Les Alexander “tax” money so “Good Job, Morey!”

Loooong overdue. Now Houston will get frustrated with his lack of defense and hot/cold shooting. There problem, not ours anymore. Kings now can look for a leader with winning attitude that walks the talk vs. laid back ego who focused on personal statistics instead of the team winning. Maybe its now time to get our season tickets back again before the pendulum swings and the prices go up? Dumped them when Malloof’s put their $ into K Mart. Like any store, you sometimes get what you pay for when it comes to quality and image. The name fits. Artest summed it up best when he laughed at the notion of him being an “All star.” You win some and you lose some in the NBA. The Kings have done a lot more losing than winning ever since K Mart got here.

I hope this move is part of larger picture they are going to do this summer. With Artest gone and Ariza not being able the impact player they wished, this move may clear some caps for the summer of blockbuster type of deal at 4. if that is true with Yao back, and K Martin playing his potential you got championship cliber team,

This trade was all about the rockets having no outside wing 2 guard scoring for next year (Martin will be deadly with yao next year, scary)and having a surplus of undersized 4′s who’s minutes will decrease next year with yao coming back not to mention it will be his contract year and the lower minutes would have pissed him off therefore he would have seeked more playing time somewhere else leaving us high and dry.

Of course you are betting that Martin can stay healthy. Martin is starting to break down every year, which sounds eerily familiar. Sure he can help if healthy, but then again a healthy McGrady would help too. Hopefully it will work out better this time.

Kevin Martin avg 20+pts a game because he jacked up tons of shots – look at his shooting percentage. The dude is 1-dimensional and can’t do anything else. No rebounds, no assist, and YUP no defense either. If you like shooting guard taking bad shots, ie Ariza, T-mac, you are going to LOVE K-mart !! NOT !!

BTW, the Kings is going to parlay that T-mac contract into another sweet offer soon ..

Soloman , are you really so insecure. Why must you always try to tell us how correct you were after some fact. People who are insecure do that amigo. Spare us the you were luke warm and correct about Ariza deal back pat. Who did get excited about it? Come on man this is becoming a habit.

1. Landry made strides, becoming a competent one on one scorer in the post. He does not rebound, can’t defend, and has struggled over the past few weeks (when the struggling Rockets needed him most) as defenses have adjusted to him.

2. Why do people always assume that if you are a scorer on a bad team, you will be a scrub on a good one. Kevin Martin can shoot. His shot is ugly, but he can fill it up. When he gets hot, he can hit a lot of shots in a row and he shoots a high percentage from the FT line. The only argument I have heard with merit is his injury history, but it isn’t like Yao where it is the same injury over and over.

3. If you are going to quote Martin’s stats from this season, make sure you also show that in his healthier years (05-08), he shot no worse than .456 while averaging over 20+. He is an upgrade both as a player and as a fit for this team with or without Yao.

If I keep hearing this lament over losing Carl Landry I’m going to stuff a sock in someone’s mouth!!!People, wake up. We were not exactly unloading the Tmac of five years ago, who actually had REAL trade value for his on the court production. We were in essence pushing a CONTRACT. Which means, it only has value to those who are looking to make moves in the off season. That basically limits the market for McGrady so severely that it could be considered a miracle we managed to get anybody outside of NY to bite.As for Landry, yes he’s a blue collar, hustle your butt, hard working player who didn’t complain. He did his job and did it to the best of his abilities. That should be rewarded, right? I think so. Now, the Kings will have the burden of choosing to pay him a 10-12 million dollar deal to lock him up. Not the Rockets!!! And at his current production levels, do not think that for one moment he won’t command that much money on the open market. He will. Thus, Morey had to realize his options. Keep Landry and potential tie up money needed to resign Lowry and Scola. Who’d you rather lose? Lowry and Scola, or just Landry? Not to mention, the ceiling on Luis is much higher even if he is somewhat older. The guy has MOVES on the offensive end that bring to mind Hakeem with all the spins and grace in the lane. Playing with Yao, Scola is potentially a 20/10 guy considering his growth so far this season. He’s improved on the glass and if he wasn’t having to play centers when playing for stretches of the game with Carl Landry, we’d see totally different numbers from him. Trust me on this one.Kenny Thomas’ expiring contract coming back this way, offers wiggle room in the event the Rockets do want to make an off season addition. No guarantees are out there that Scola could not be packaged in a sign and trade to get a Chris Bosh if Bosh were indeed looking to make a return to his home state. Houston’s problem there was they had Scola, Landry, Hayes, Dorsey…and no real chance to say they’d compete for a championship even with Bosh next season. Now, you roll out a lineup of Brooks, Martin, Ariza, Yao, and offer Bosh the chance to play on a team that has balance, speed, spacing, and an open power forward slot. He might just be inclined to think about it. Even if he’s not, Carlos Boozer certainly would! So the Rockets have options.Lastly, as for the junk coming back, they are getting a 6’11″ center who is young. A guy who may never develop into a starter but a player who can backup Yao and give them a pivot for now who isn’t 6’6″. And no sense in pretending, the Spanish point guard is probably trade bait who will be used to get a draft pick at some point. Or he may just net us Tyrus Thomas. Either way, don’t think he’s here by the end of the day. Not with Lowry coming back and Garrett Temple showing real promise at 6’6″ playing point, with great quickness and defensive potential. With Brooks and Lowry, we do need a long point guard to ocassionally come in for defensive purposes. Not to mention, he’d make sweet entry passes to Yao. I can see that right now. Don’t chunk the junk, just because you may not understand it’s treasured potential.

The Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks have agreed to terms that will expand the Houston-Sacramento deal into a three-way trade that lands Tracy McGrady with the Knicks, according to NBA front-office sources.

The Knicks will acquire McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez from Sacramento, sources said.

The Rockets get Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries from New York and will have the right to swap first-round picks with New York in 2011 as well as take on New York’s 2012 first-round pick.

This is definitely a pick up for next year’s team. Having a slashing guard that can get hot from the perimeter is the perfect compliment for Yao – it’s what we wished McGrady would have done for all these years but he was too busy holding the ball for 20 seconds and then jacking up a horrible, contested shot. If K-Mart can reliably drop 20, it will force defenses to either spread to contest his outside game or collapse when goes into the lane. Either way, it opens up space for Yao to do what he does. If Brooks can keep maturing, this should be a potent offense next year.

Aight yall need to calm down now, this is how this is gonna work. I have been bashing Morey for the last few days but I gotta eat some crow now. The Rockets get Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries from New York and will have the right to swap first-round picks with New York in 2011 as well as take on New York’s 2012 first-round pick.

So we gotta body in return for dorsey & landry leaving, him being jordan hill. Were gonna see what he is about now cause he didn’t do ish at NY but he also wasn’t getting any burn. He will get PT now with us & he was a lottery pick.

We got Martin who is a damn good player if you haven’t watched. And best of all we got them draft picks we have wanted, Morey pulled off a damn good move

Your trust is now back from me, I was wrong & admit it

The rox are on the way up. And we should have a damn good pick for the draft this year with alot of good big men coming out in the 2010 draft

Dallas is going nowhere. Ayson Kidd never found a J and now his knees are creaky. There’s a reason why Shawn Marion was trade bait for 5 years and couldn’t find a home – he’s overrated nless you’re into fantasy basketball.

Now you tell me about this Rockets deal: they got basically the Knicks deal + Kevin Martin + Kenny Thomas expiring contract worth 9M while giving up McGrady’s contract, Landry and Dorsey. This is the most of a steal a team not named Lakers or Celtics can get. Some get Paul Gasol for NOTHING. Others have to work things out to get it done…

Kevin Martin is not a big time scorer. JS, I expect better from you man. This guy is a volume shooter, he can get to the free throw line, BUT disappears when defenders play him physical. In other words, his points are quiet. Have not seen anything that makes me think he is anything more than a 3rd tier player in need of a superstar to be effective. Does not create for other teammates, or make them better. Can we get some honesty? Some of us actually pay attention to other NBA players and teams besides the Rockets. This is similar to you saying that Yao Ming is better than Dwight Howard. I’ll go with that only if you are considering offense only, and not durability, shotblocking, and post defense. I will be impressed if we can get rid of Brooks, and land a superior playmaker (John Wall comes to mind) that can run an offense, feed the post, and setup the volume shooters we have. Landry, was pushed forward as a power forward despite his lack of height because he didn’t have the ball handling skills, perimeter game to be a small forward. Ariza has been pushed forward as a shooting guard, even though he is a career backup defensive specialist. Hopefully this deal with put Battier on the bench, Hayes on the bench, and Brooks/Scola in a package deal to move up in the lottery and grab Wall. Morey pull that off, and I’ll applaud him. Otherwise he has done nothing to warrant discussion as a great or one of the best GM’s in the league. That should be reserved for guys who make deals, and keep their teams consistently contending for titles.

This trade is very good did we rob the hen house or what. As for Landry I like him as a player and a person but he was terrible on defense thats why he didn’t start. The fans out there must realize that the NBA is a business and you must spend money to make money. If we as rockets fans thought we had a sleeper of a team then oh we definitely have one now. I just bought more stock in the Rockets. The Western conference playoff picture is about right where it stands but I don’t think OKC is going to make it and I don’t think Portland is going to hang on because of injuries. The Rockets should at least get the 7/8 seed. What do you think?

I am glad to see that the Rockets got some young talent out of the deals with the King and Knicks. Brooks and Martin will be an interesting backcourt next year once they start working together. Jordan Hill is a lottery pick with a legit power forward frame. The Rockets won’t make the playoffs this year and will have a few ping-pong balls in the draft lottery next year with some great talent heading to the NBA. Then the Rockets get two lottery picks from the Knicks. With or without LaBron the Knick are lottery-bound. It’s an embarassment of riches. Tracy McGrady is the NBA’s Herschel Walker.

The Rockets deal of Tracy McGrady to get Kings guard Kevin Martin will move McGrady and Kings point guard Sergio Rodriguez to New York, with the Rockets getting forward Jordan Hill, the eighth pick of the 2009 NBA draft.

The Rockets will also get Knicks forward Jared Jeffries, the right to switch first-round picks in 2011 and a first-rounder in 2012, a person with knowledge of the deal said.

The Rockets will also acquire center Hilton Armstrong from the Kings in the deal, sending Carl Landry, Joey Dorsey and cash to Sacramento.

Martin’s shooting % has went down every year. He is currently shooting 39% and he starting to develop a history of being injured. So you like a shooting guard who can’t shoot and always hurt? Kinda of T-Macish if you ask me..

What is going on with the Houston Rockets? Are they losing their minds.Morwey or what ever his name is need to be fired with the coach.Landry is a good player. Should have traded any other player on the team. Mowery and the coach is doing the same as what happen to the Texans. It seems like some bigorty is gtoing on. That nis now why I understand Sprewell actions. Need big men and I go smaller. God bless you Rockets. You have lost a good fan. Idon’t know if the owner really understand this situation , but I hope the fans see how bad this trade is. If yiy needed a guard trade Brooks, but ihope he stays.

you’re a moron. you can’t even name our coach, owner or GM who engineered this trade.

giving up landry is tough, but keep in mind he’s our 6th man. jordan hill can easily develop into the next hot carl, and we have a sure scorer in kmart which is something we’ve been missing for a while. also, awesome job by morey to steal those picks from the knicks…

we won’t go deep in the playoffs anytime soon, but we’re building for a run in the future with all these young players and promised picks

Good post Jerome. I agree, and I love Landry. He’s a great post player and a greater human being. Which means a lot to a lot of people in Houston. McGrady is still capable of greatness, but we grew without a place for him here. I’m really excited about K-Mart and Hill. RED NATION!!

Here is what a leading analyst says about Landry.”This guy can hit mid-range shots, post up for profit, rebound like a fiend, work hard on defense, and always compete. In addition, Landry is absolutely fearless when battling with the NBA’s biggest bigs. True, his pass-work and his handle need improvement, but look for his numbers to dramatically increase once he’s plugged into the starting lineup.”

I tend to think Landry was on his up side and Martin is way too injury prone.

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Again, I love Carl, but anyone who thinks his numbers will “dramatically increase” is nuts.

I’ve been a Houston Rocket fan since 1971.I’ve had season tickets since the Moses Malone era.I feel I know my hoops.This in my opinion is the best trade the Rockets have made since they stole Moses Malone from Portland or was it Seattle.They just got 3 good players, a 1st round pick and a player I consider a star for an expiring contract,a bench player and a player they just called up from the D-League. So to me they traded Landry for 5 players and the opportunity to switch draft picks,plus thy got under the luxury tax. How is that not a great trade?

People who are citing Martin’s FG% this season go do some research. Go look how he performed the first 5 games this season before his wrist injury. Then, go check how he shot the two weeks after he returned from his wrist injury when he admitted the wrist was effecting his shots. Also, if Martin gets injured its a $12 mil hit not a $23 mil hit like T Mac was.

We all love Carl Landry but hes an undersized pf what’s not a great defender or rebounder. He is also a free agent after next season and would have little trade value this time next year as well as have a 300% jump in salary. Morey knew exactly what he was doing the guy is brilliant.

Is it me or is the media really overhyping the two max contract (Franchise Player) cap room the knicks will have to offer next off-season?

If the salary numbers I got from various websites are correct they owe approximately 17.7 to Eddy Curry, Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas. If they keep JR Giddens and Bill Walker from the Robinson trade that is another 2 million. That is $20 mill committed to next season.

If the cap is about $50-53 million they roughly have $30-33 million left to spend. That is not enough for 2 max players and resigning David Lee let alone TMAC and/or Sergio Rodriguez

With that said I only count 8 players till they reach their cap limit. That is 3-4 players short of the min size roster. That means filling out the rest of the roster with NBDL, veteran min, and undrafted rookies.

After breaking it down its not going to be a deep team at least for next season. They will have to avoid injuries.

It sounds like NY will have to settle for one marquee FA, one second tier (Boozer Level @ 10 to 11) to field a decent team.

Once again the rockets gave away a good player, later will they do Carl like they did Mike James or do him like Sam cassell or Catino or Don Chaney ? Think about it, either way I’m done- that’s. The rockets M O. A die hard rockets fan down the drain never again will I watch them. again.

Been hearing a lot since the trade on how the Knicks will likely use their financial opportunities to try to lure one or two marquee players to their roster in 2010. What about the Rockets? Are they also a team gearing up for that kind of signing this offseason? And if so, how capable would they be at getting it now that McGrady’s large contract is no longer something for the Rockets to deal with?

You are not always right. In fact, you are often wrong. You are the most negative hometown sports writer in the country. How about some optimism?

Oh wait, you’re happy that we got K-Mart. I will just wait until halfway through the first quarter on Saturday for you to trash him.

Morey is a great GM. He turned a mediocre offer by the Knick into a great offer by the Knicks AND Kings by calling their bluff and letting it known that he didn’t need them as a trading partner (the Knicks). The desperate Knicks responded. He turned a diamond in the rough second round pick, who he found, and an inactive broken down star into two first rounders and top 10 draft pick and a scoring guard. AND, Jefferies contract expires when they will need to re-sign YAO.

This is a much better deal now that it is a three way trade. I like having the potential of Hill even if it may be a ways from being realized, along with the draft picks, and an established scorer in Martin. To get all that for Landry and a guy that wasn’t in the plans going forward is a great job by Morey. Well done Dork Elvis! If he would’ve pulled off the trade for Amare too then I may have passed out.

It will be hilarious if the big name free agents want max contracts using their bird rights via sign-and-trade rather than signing out right for a year less given the way the CBA may change going forward. They may not see a CBA as friendly as this one again in their careers, why take a year less money? That would put teams with assets and expiring contracts in good shape this summer over the teams that dumped everything for cap room. It’s a long shot I know, but if you can sell Bosh on playing next to Yao with Martin and Brooks on the perimeter and give him the chance at an extra year and a larger contract then he has to at least give it a second thought right…

I was as dissapointed as anyone when i 1st saw the trade yesterday…and even in its final form; I hate giving up Landry…BUT Morey really did well. We have the “2″ we have really needed, Armstrong can be another capable big in the rotation; Jordan Hill’s upside could be better than Landry’s (HE WAS A LOTTERY PICK!) and heck. we may even get something out of J.Jeffries (who was a #12 overall pick himself). PLUS..and this is BIG..we could end up with TWO MORE lottery picks!! Weve seen what Morey can do with 2nd round picks…I can’t wait to see what he can do with a lottery pick! as far as cap space….we were never going to be “big” players this year…we would not have had lots of cap space…yet we still have plenty of cap space in 2011 if things in 2010 don’t work out. SO>>>>>….CARL…I, WE, will miss you…but…IN MOREY WE TRUST!! Go Rockets!! Great Trade!

JS, you’ve been saying that people are overvaluing Carl, but I think you may really be undervaluing him. Here are some interesting quotes from David Thorpe, Martin’s long time personal trainer and close friend concerning the trade and the possibility of each team improving from the trade:

You know, I don’t know yet about the Rockets. I’ve not studied them the same that I’ve studied Sacramento. I’d like to think that they can get better, but I don’t think it’s a sure thing. As much as I love Kevin, my honest assessment is I don’t know. I haven’t seen them enough… I don’t know if Kevin’s good enough to be a “give him the ball and get out of the way” kind of guy. I don’t think that’s really playing to his strengths. I think you can run sets for him late in games. The other night in overtime he scored nine straight points for the Kings, because they actually ran some stuff for him and it worked out well.

But I honestly think the Kings do get better. I’ve said it pretty much all throughout this trading process, to people who’ve asked. Listen, I love Kevin like he’s my son. But that team is desperate for interior scoring that’s consistent, mature and reliable. Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson show flashes. Every game, one or the other shows a flash or two. But they’re nowhere near the finished product that Carl Landry is right now…. In the case of Carl, he’s got some issues, and you’re right, he’s really a potential All-Star.

From what I’d seen from the Kings the last two seasons I thought they were higher on Thompson than what they may actually be at this point. This may end up being one of the best things to happen for Carl. Once Yao comes back that realstate on the block will be hard to come by. If Carl is going to get the chance to be the primary post player on that team then he may very well end up as an all star one day. Playing with a long, athletic, and mobile big man next to him on defense will make him that much better in that regard as well. I’m curious to see how he develops over the coming years.

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I’m not undervaluing Carl. Saying he is about as good as he ever would be as a Rocket, doesn’t mean he is terrible and needed to be shipped off. Saying he would never be an All-Star doesn’t mean I think he’s a bum. And if Carl is your primary post scorer, you’re probably not that good unless you have a unique supporting cast. As you’ve said, the Rockets don’t have that. Rejecting this trade to keep Carl would have been foolish. … Right now the trade looks like an A. Three years from now, I think the worst it could be is a B-minus/C-plus. We’ll see.

Carl is a nice player, but I think he is pretty much maxed out, and not a very good defensive player.

Ugh, I hate saying this, but I actually agree here. Landry’s value was sky-high as a potential Sixth Man of the Year, and it was mostly because the Rockets had no other real offensive option, especially in the post.

If you notice, our losing ways have been happening ever since teams started swarming Landry in the post. He didn’t know what to do with it and either missed horrible contested shots or turned the ball over. He’s a great low post thread 1 on 1 and facing up, but if there’s a double-team, watch out. As mentioned, his defense has always been suspect, too.

But I’ll never under-estimate Carl. His heart and desire to get better could vault him to the next level where he can handle the double-teams and score consistently in heavy traffic. I wouldn’t put it past him, and I hope he does become that sort of player because I really, really like the guy.

Kevin Martin, however, is on another level already. He’s one of the most efficient scorers with one of the highest true shooting percentages in the NBA over the last 4 years. It is precisely what we need to pair with Yao Ming, and Morey has known that for years now having tried to get Martin for a long time.

As Morey said, this year’s draft is heavy in bigs and we should get a pick in the high teens, so we should land a pretty good one. Not only that, but we have Jordan Hill who was a #8 pick and could develop into something special (though I’m not holding my breath). Then, you can push all of that aside, and grab a Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire talent to replace Landry via sign-and-trade this off-season.

Yao/Bosh/Martin anyone? Sure, we’d probably have to lose Aaron Brooks, some draft picks, and Shane Battier or Trevor Ariza, but it would be worth it to have that threesome. Well worth it.

We will not win a championship so long as Yao Ming is our best player coupled with an injury prone 2 guard. Maybe we get something out of the draft picks but I highly doubt it. The Knicks might not get Lebron or Dwayne Wade, but I guarantee they will become a playoff team. those two picks are not going to be lottery picks.

Morey is very over-rated as is this trade. As of now, it lookks like a few more years of early playoff exits.

“”"”"DREEM you should really be the GM. That is a BRILLIANT idea to trade Scola/Brooks to whoever has the first round to get John Wall. That’s the only way to make this trade made today make since.

We would have a good point gaurd, scoring two gaurd, defensive three with a good back up, Jordan Hill who I believe could be our Otis Thorpe, and Yao.

GREAT IDEA

Posted by: Carlos Stewart at February 18, 2010 03:39 PM”"”"”"”"

Well, something that fans posting here and on other Rocket blog articles fail to realize. They value players that the Rockets have more than other teams do. NONE of the current players on the roster are potential All-stars in the near future. Not Brooks, Not Scola. They should be smart enough to look at what the contending teams have and don’t have and don’t do. No. 1: They do not gameplan around injury prone players like the Rockets have done and currently plan to do. When your future is based on IF Yao comes back, or IF Martin stays healthy, that’s not a sound plan to me. If it is, it makes for a lousy business plan. Thanks to ignorant fans, it will be sold and bought, wrapped in exciting Rockets Red, while everytime Yao or Martin hits the floor everybody holds their breath, especially the perps and supporters of the HOPE/IF plan.

No.2 None of the contending teams (4th seeds or better) have a starting position that would be occupied by Brooks, Battier, Hayes, Ariza, or Scola. I didn’t include Yao, because all of these teams have viable options (like depth at the 5 spot).

No.3. All of the contenders have at least 3 players that are considered amongst the best players in the league regardless of their position. Rocket’s fans seem to think we are going to be contenders next year IF, i repeat IF/HOPE/WISH Yao comes back 100%. No, we won’t. We will make the playoffs, but exit early.

No.4 this trade will be graded in 3 years as a good one if we get a Paul, Williams, Wall type to be the superior playmaker to bring everything together. There is still work to be done. Until it’s done (Morey), I will hold off with the anointing oil that Morey is a great GM. Until he produces a contender, I will not lay trinkets at his feet. Making the playoffs do not excite me, though losing a 7 game series to a better team in the conference finals would.

I’m still waiting for a media type to ask some questions (Jerome S. you included) as to why fans should buy into this plan since it worked so well with the last two injury prone players (Tracy and Yao).

First, Scola is as good as he will ever get and actually he is slowly declining. Second, Yao with no real back-up WILL be out again by mid-season with this offense. Third, it’s time to part ways with Battier and Hayes, the scrappy fun times are over and its time to build for a championship team.

Make Carl Landry a starter and increase his 27 minutes per game and surround him with shooters and then make a judgement on wether he is an all-star type player or not. I do like Kevin Martin as he fits the Rockets needs. Now the backcourt should even out a bit with the frontcourt.

Well I was right !!!! Bad mistake, the rockets look like an expansion team. (BRING CARL LANDRY BACK )!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why the rockets don’t get any RESPECT !!! At a rockets party right now and everyone is calling them the “ROCKETTES ” .LOL

So T-Mac didn’t deliver in the playoffs and was always injured…so the Rockets replaced him with an always injured player who never got his team to the playoffs. Kevin Martin has played in a TOTAL of 6 playoff games. He doesn’t defend or pass well and currently is shooting 38.9% for all this talk about his efficiency. It just cracks me up.

Just give Kevin Martin a few games; he is going to vastly improve the Houston Rockets. Acquiring one of the leagues most efficient scorers in the NBA is only going to help a team that is somewhat challenged offensively. Martin can score in a variety of ways and he gets to the line. Therefore, I wish Rocket fans will explain to me how he’s not going to help improve their team? Remember, the guy is kind of out-of-sync right now; he was playing in an ever changing system in Sacramento; in fact, he probably hasn’t played on a team with any structure in the last couple years.